♪ quite a backlash after president obama commutes the sentence of chelsea manning, how did this move affect interaction among those who leaked classified material. >> the president-elect is making preparations for his presidential inauguration friday as more democrats decide to boycott. and a political day on capitol hill. the man charged with overhauling obamacare faces the senate after a pretty angry pushback. good morning, everyone, welcome to "early start."

i'm john berman. >> good morning, i'm christine romans, it is 4:00 a.m. 92-year-old former president george h.w. bush has been hospitalized in houston according to local media. his office chief of staff gene becker tells the houston chronicle that the elder bush is doing fine, although the reason for the hospitalization is not immediately disclosed. bush's office expects him to go home in a couple days. he's 92 years old. >> he's one person that is not attending the inauguration. that had been decided because of ongoing health issues. i will tell you when he's not in the hospital even when he is, he's living life to the fullest. two days before the president goes out of office, the outgoing president drops a big surprise. president obama rocking washington by commuting chelsea

manning's 35-year prison sentence. the former army private convicted of leaking 750,000 pages of documents and videos, now set to be released in may. the move with backlash. mr. obama shortened manning's sentence over objections of his own secretary of defense ash carter. manning released the documents in 2010 from wikileaks which is advocating her release from the moment she was arrested. there has been no word from the trump team. julian assange has been held up in the ecuadoran embassy for years. unrelated in a sexual assault case. assange said it could lead for the u.s. handing him over for prosecution of his work with wikileaks. but last week, wikileaks tweeted

if obama grants clemenscy, assange will agree to u.s. extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of doj case. did assange really need all of that? >> reporter: hi, john and christine. now, we're hearing from white house senior officials boiling down the white house commutation to three points that chelsea manning accepted responsibility for her crimes, that she expressed remorse for them. that she already served more than six years of a very long sentence of originally 35 years. she said president obama feels that is sufficient compared to others who have committed similar crimes. they don't want to back away from the seriousness of those crimes, though. what they're saying, president obama still has serious concerns about the crimes she committed. that they were not good for

national security. and that the u.s. had to take steps to mitigate damage that was done from them. the white house was asked does this have anything to do with humanitarian grounds, the fact that manning is transgender and has struggled while held in prison, what she tried to commit suicide? they didn't get into that. they also said this had nothing to do with julian assange of wikileaks promise that if her sentence was commuted that he would be willing to face extradition to the u.s. to stand for his crimes. they said that this commutation was based only on those points that i mentioned. it remains to be seen whether a song honors that promise he made. >> wikileaks tweeted victory and a brief at the same time from julyian assange. thank you for everyone who

campaigned for chelsea manning's clemency. your courage and determination made the impossible possible. >> but on capitol hill joe manchin said the shortened sentence was wrong. and gave a green light to hacking and espionage. >> manning stacked his fellow shoulders in the back by releasing classified information and put their lives at risk. president obama by granting clemency to manning slapped all of those who serve honorably in the face. >> and saying it dilutes their sacrifice. president obama granted commutations and pardons to more than 200 other people including james cartwright. many cartwright pleaded guilty to making false statements to

federal investigators about leaking to journalist it's. and baseball hall of fame willie mccovey has been pardoned from a tax invasion to 1965. in a statement, he said i want to express my sincere gratitude president are obama not only for his kind gesture on my baffle but also for his tireless service to all americans. is this morning, donald trump wakes up at trump tower, his final day before arriving in washington. unlike the campaign where he spoke off the cuff, the transition claims that the president-elect is writing this one himself. cnn's jeff zeleny has a preview as the last full day in new york as president-elect. >> john and christine fwoshgs days before donald trump takes office he's putting the finishing touches on his inaugural address. we're told that he's writing it himself after watching and reading several recent addresses

and ones from history. he studied president reagan and even president barack obama's. he traveled for a chairman global dinner features diplomats around the world southwest mike pence and some of their top campaign contributors. he's back in new york scheduled to spend the final day working out of trump tower. his last day before he becomes president before moving to washington on thursday. now, washington is alive with activity with all of the traditional transfer of power. president obama gives his last press conference at the white house. the list of democrats boycotting the inauguration continues to grow. now more than 50. but so far no senate democrats have added their names to that list. that's important. trump will need the cooperation of some of them to give their game to congress. republicans control the house, senate and white house for the first time in a decade.

a new wilderness for democrats if they're protesting or not. john and christine. >> jeff zeleny, thank you. as jeff mentioned president-elect trump was in washington attending a black tie dinner. >> i'm not sure he's in black tie. >> he's not in black tie. no -- he was quick to praise former exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson, his nominee for secretary of state. >> we have great respect of countries. we have a great respect for our world. we have a man that i wanted from the very beginning, rex tillerson. and these lights are bright but he's out there somewhere. where is he? thank you very much. thanks, rex. i think it's tougher than he thought. he goes into a country, takes the oil. goes into another country -- [ laughter ] it's tough dealing with these

politici politicians, right? he's going to be so incredible. >> other senators including marco pruitt tapped to head up fda. and john price tapped for health and human services. it was pretty tough for education nominee betsy devos. let's get the latest from phil mattingly on capitol hill. >> reporter: john and christine, week two has kicked off on tuesday. it was a primary hearing focused on and that is the president-elect's selection to be secretary of education secretary, betsy devos. politically, she comes from a

family, she herself, some of the biggest donors in the republican party. as part of that donation, a part of where their money goes, education reform. vouchers, charter schools, big issue information the devos family. and betsy devos in particular have focused on that have made her a prime target for democrats. that's shown in her confirmation hearing. take a look at this exchange between senator elizabeth warren and betsy devos. >> mrs. devos, have you ever taken out a student loan from the federal government to help pay for college. >> i have not. >> have either of your children borrowed money to go to college. >> they've been fortunate to not to. >> uh-huh. have you had any personal experience with the pell grant? >> not personal experience, but certainly friends and students with whom i've worked. >> so, you have no personal experience with college financial aid or management of higher education? >> even though there were consistent attacks from

democrats and outside groups, particularly public school teacher, labor unions have been really targeting her nomination. she has a lot of heavy support as well. jeb bush, obviously the tormenter, or tormentee, if you will, of the president-elect during the republican primary process has come out in support. a lot of republicans who feel like betsy devos represents where they want to go. they've gotten behind her naum in addition. and there's every indication that she will be confirmed barring some late-breaking development. now who comes next, today's hearing with tom price, the selection to be secretary of health and human services is the biggest one on the docket. probably this week, maybe for the entire administration. think about the number one policy for the president-elect. repealing and replacing the affordable care act. tom price has a hook role. not only expertise on capitol hill and working as a doctor. but in that role he can do a lot

unilaterally to help that role along. democrats have questions on ethics. our own manu raji breaking that news. >> phil mattingly, thank you so much for that. that's going to be an interesting -- >> oh, it will be fascinating, especially with the news, 18 million on obamacare today. donald trump's picks will face lawmakers later this morning, wilbur ross. the multibillion had had dollar empire. we'll tell you what he's selling and what he's keeping. my arthritis pain used to make my favorite things to do...

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all right. donald trump's commerce

secretary pick wilbur ross will face lawmakers today. ahead of that hearing the famed investor has reached an agreement with federal officials to avoid conflicts of interests. if he's picked he would step away from invesco and invest shares of boeing. and delay hedge funds for up to six months after his confirmation. but nine passive investments he's keeping, those involving shipping and real estate. while he may face questions on these holdings, take a listen to what he said about trade. tariffs and border taxes in particular. whether you do trade through tax reform or other ways. look, he's going to take a bigger role in trade policies and immigration. many say his first goal will be to renegotiate nafta.

and his views with china. what would he say about china and about mexico and all of this pressure that the president-elect has been putting on companies to get them to announce they're keeping jobs in the united states. >> there's a rift between republican and congress and the president-elect on tax reform. that will be interesting to see. pressure is mounting for republicans to put forth a plan to replace obamacare. this comes as the budget office estimates 18 million americans could lose insurance if the affordable care act is repealed without alternatives. democrats rallying those insured over the weekend. over the weekend the president-elect said his plan is nearly complete. and he promised insurance for everybody. but some republican lawmakers express a concern if the process of dismantling the plan begins without a replacement. an 18-year veteran has been killed in the line of duty. detective jerry walker a father

of four was shot in a barricaded gun marn. walker is the first police officer to be killed on the job from little elm police department. the man suspected of killing a police officer and his own pregnant girlfriend is now in custody after a while on the run. police arrested markeith loyd tuesday after tracking him to an abandoned house. they say he was wearing body army, was wearing two handguns and tried to escape. they put loyd in hand cuffs that belonged to slain officer debra clayton. >> to put her handcuffs on the bad guy that she was trying to catch when she was kill is significant, is meaningful to family, it's meaning to her pd family as well. >> 41-year-old loyd faces two murder counts. police arrested three people for

allegedly himming him to get captured. cooperstown is calling but for whom. the baseball hall of fame class 2017 will be announced today. outfielder tim raines finally, finally should get in. hall of famers are chosen by the baseball writers. now what about the alleged steroids guys, barry bonds and roger clemens who certainly has the numbers to get in. they're likely to miss the cut again. however, however, it does seem that all of those people linked to steroids over the years, their numbers are getting better. and it might be that they get in eventually. that's sort of the new trend in the hall of fame. i know you were asking about it. >> i've actually been losing sleep over it. >> tim raines, i know you feel passionate about it. he had one of the great careers of all time. he's been denied up until now

and should get in. >> what would i do without john berman. 19 minutes past the hour. russian president vladimir putin accusations of spying only undermine the incoming president-elect. more from moscow.

russian president vladimir putin is coming to the defense of donald trump. the russian leader said the salacious but unestablished claims and that 35-page report about donald trump were obvious accusations. calling the plan to undermine the results of the presidential election.

joining us from moscow, jill dougherty from the bureau chief in moscow and now a fellow at the woodrow center. jill, colorful, very colorful comments from the russian leader. >> yeah, it was really an amazing moment, i'd have to say, it was at a news conference, everything was relatively boring, all of a sudden, this question came up right at the end. and president putin went on for a number of minutes. and basically what he said there is a political battle as he put it under way in the united states to undermine the legitimacy of donald trump and his administration and also to tie his hands and his feet. then he got into that alleged salacious compromising material. and he said it was a complete fake. he ended up there in the kremlin at that news conference talking about prostitutes. here's what he said. >> translator: did trump really come and meet with moscow

prostitutes? first, he is an adult. and second, he is a person for many years has organized a beauty pageant, socialized with the most beautiful women in the world. it's hard to believe he ran to a hotel to meet with our girls of a low social class, although they are the best in the world. >> he also said that people who fabricate and use this type of fake information are worse than prostitutes. then he also went into mr. trump's visit way back when to moscow. he said we can't even know at that point that he was going to be a politician. and do you think that our security services are running around following every billionaire. then he said absolute nonsense. john. >> with wording of new diplomacy, jill dougherty, thanks very much. a horrible tragedy unfolding right now in northeast nigeria. the country's air force is now

confirmed it mistakenly bombed a crowded refugee camp. the death toll, 53. 100 other people were hurt. nigerian officials say their pilots were attempted to target boca haram, who had launched an air strike on civilians who had fled. humanitarian workers are among the dead. just a tragedy there. president obama stunning washington by commuting the sentence of chelsea manning to leaked tens of thousands of documents of wikileaks.

♪ the prison sentence for chelsea manning commuted by president obama. how could the move affect handling of leaks under future administrations? just two days until donald trump's sworn in as president. final preparations under way, as more democrats decide to boycott. and a big day on capitol

hill. trump's nominee to overhaul obamacare will face the senate a day after the nominee ran into pushback from democrats. welcome back to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. about 30 minutes after the hour. good to see you. 92-year-old former president george h.w. bush has been hospitalized in houston. now, this is according to local media. his office chief of staff gene becker telling khotv and the houston chronicle that the elder bush is doing fine although the reason for the hospitalization is not disclosed. the bush office expects him home in a couple days. >> president bush was never planning to attend the inauguration, because of these ongoing health issues. he's been in the hospital for the last few years. very much enjoying his family. keeping current on other things. >> we wish him well. >> indeed. big news from president obama on his way out the door

the president commuted the 35-year sentence of chelsea manning. the former army private accused of leaking 750 pages of documents and videos will be released in may. he made the decision over the objection of his own secretary of defense ash carter. manning, you'll remember, leased the document in 2010 through wikileaks which is advocating for his release. leaked documents that the intelligence community said were hacked by russia by the aim of donald trump. there's been no word from the trump team, at least not yet, regarding the decision on that. >> now, the world is waiting to see if manning's clemency will be hold the promise of assange. assange said he fears surrendering to sweden could lead to him being handed over to

the u.s. for his prosecution for his work on wikileaks. but last week, wikileaks tweeted if obama grants manning cleansecy, assange will agree to u.s. extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of the doj case. >> we're hearing from white house officials who are boiling down the white house's thinking on this commutation to three points. that chelsea manning accepted responsibility for her crimes. that she expressed remorse for them. and that she already served more than six years of a very long sentence. originally 35 years. they said president obama feels that is sufficient. especially compared to others who committed similar crimes. they don't want to back away from the seriousness of those crimes, though. what they were saying is that president obama still has serious concerns about the crimes that she committed. that they were not good for

national security. and that the u.s. had to take steps to mitigate damage that was done from them. the white house was asked well does this have anything to do with humanitarian grounds. the fact that manning is transgender and has struggled while she's been held in prison? that she tried to commit suicide? they didn't get into that. they also said this had nothing to do with julian assange's of blaex promise that if her sentence was commuted that he'd be willing to face extradition to the u.s. to stand for his crimes. they said this commutation is based only on those points that i mentioned. it remains to be seen whether assange honors that promise that he made. john and christine. >> thanks, michelle. moments after the clemency announcement blaex tweeted victory. thank you to everyone for those who campaigned for chelsea

manning's clemency. your courage and determination made the impossible possible. >> the reaction from democrats was harsh from republicans. joe manchin said the shortened sentence was dead wrong. it gave a green light to hacking and cyber attacks. >> it's wrong. it was treason and espionage. should have been 35 years. >> lindsey graham told cnn and dana bash that manning stabbed his fellow soldiers in the back. and john mccain also very sharp words for this. saying all of those whist whistle-blowers who use the proper channels their sacrifices have been diluted by this. >> not the only commutation. james cartwright an outright

pardon. in 2012 cartwright pleaded guilty about leaking confidential. also baseball hall of fame willie mccovey was pardoned for tax invasion. mccovey said i want to express my sincere gratitude to president obama not only for this kind gesture on my baffle, but also for his tireless service to all americans." this morning, donald trump is at trump tower where he'll be very busy in his final day in new york. in a departure from the speeches he gave on the campaign trail which were off the cuff or written by an aide, the transition team claims he's writing this speech by himself. >> john and christine, two days before donald trump takes office, he's putting the finishing touches on his inaugural address. we're told that he's writing it

himself after reading several speeches from history. the president-elect made a quick trip to washington for the first inaugural event a chairman global dinner features diplomats from around the world including mike pence and some of their top contributors. he's back in new york expected to spend the final day in trump tower his last day before moving to washington on thursday. washington is live with activity. all of the transfer of power. president obama gives his last press conference at the white house. even his four key confirmation hearings unfold on capitol hill. the list of democrats boycotting the inauguration continues to grow. now more than 50. so far, no senate democrats have added their names to that list. that's important. trump will need the cooperation of some of them to get his agenda through congress. but it's also important to remember starting friday, republicans control the house, senate and white house for the first time in a decade.

a new wilderness for democrats if they're protesting or not. john and christine. >> thanks, jeff. as jeff just mentioned there, the president-elect is briefly in the nation's capital last night, he attended a black tie only dinner. we can't tell if that's a tuxedo. it looks like a blueish tie with a dark suit. this was held for foreign diplomats to meet members of the incoming administration. and the president-elect put trace to exxon ceo rex tillerson as secretary of state. >> and we have great respect for your countries. we have great respect for your world. we have a man that i wanted from the very beginning, these lights are bright, rex tillerson. thanks, rex. i think it's tougher than he thought. he goes into a country takes the oil. goes into another country.

[ laughter ] it's tough dealing with these politicians, right? he's going to be so incredible. >> it isn't clear in rex tillerson was his choice all along. rudy giuliani and then mitt romney. and it was only after cycling through a few names that he ended up settling on rex tillerson at the advice of robert gates and others. tillerson faces a tough confirmation. marco rubio is still undecided whether he'll vote on him. wilbur ross is the nominee for commerce secretary. scott pruitt for the epa. nickki haley and tom price pickd for the health and human services and tuesday was a tough day for the education nominee betsy devos. let's get more from capitol hill. >> john and christine, week two

of confirmation madness kicked off on tuesday. it was really one primarily hearing everybody was focused on. and that is the president-elect's selection to be his next education secretary. betsy devos. now, she's well-known in political and education circles for a couple reasons. politically, she comes from a family and she herself, some of biggest donors in the republican party. part of where their money goes, education reform, charter schools, and big issues that betsy devos have focused but have made her a prime target for democrats. and that's shown in her confirmation hearing. take a look at between this exchange between senator elizabeth warren and betsy devos primarily on how much experience the nominee actually has. >> mrs. devos have you ever taken out a student loan from the federal government to help pay for college. >> i have not. >> have either of your children had to borrow money to go to

college? >> they've been fortunate not to. >> have you had any personal experience with the pell grant? >> not personal experience, but certainly friends and students with whom i've worked. >> so you've had no personal experience with students of financial aid? >> even though there were consistent attacks from outside groups, particularly public school teachers, labor unions have been targeting her nomination. she has a lot of heavy support jeb bush obviously, the tormenter or tormentee, if you will of the republican process have come out in support. a lot of republicans who feel like betsy devos represents the direction they want to go when that comes to federal education policy. they've gotten big hind her nomination. there's expectation that she will be confirmed bar something late breaking development we haven't heard about yet. and now who comes next, guys, no question about it, today's

hearing tom price secretary of health and human services the biggest one on the docket. repealing and replacing the affordable air act, tom price has a huge role. he can do a lot unilaterally to help that process along. but he has major problems as well. democrats with pointed policy questions with him but pointed questions about tom price's ethics. our own manu raji with that. >> phil mattingly with us on capitol hill. pretty good low approval ratings for the president-elect as he's prepared to be sworn into office. historically low. the latest cnn/orc poll shows

40% approve of the way trump has handled the transition. 53% said their confidence has decreased. this does not happen normally. this is the honeymoon people. people like you more after the transition traditionally. and when it comes to jobs, 61% said he will create good jobs. as the transition, the trump team will tell you this is what matters. watch what he does, not how people feel about him. in long term, they say, these numbers will turn around. donald trump claiming another victory walmart announces hiring. is this globalization or a change in business models. here's are the automakers who have issued press releases. ford promising 700 jobs in michigan. fiat chrysler, 2,000 positions

indiana. and gm and hyundai. in total 4700 new jobs. now, some of those were promised long before donald trump was elected. but the companies now are trying to make sure they get credit for growing jobs in the u.s. the big question on these responses to trump's calls for for american manufacturing or employment shifts now, the hope of lower corporate tax rates in the future which would help pay for all of it. here's a reality check the number of automakers that make cars and parts are nowhere where it was in the early 2000s. just hit back-to-back sales records in 2015 and 2016. i think the tone has changed, john. and these companies want to at least remind the president-elect that hey, we have big operation information the u.s. we have a big footprint in the u.s., but we do have a globalized business and we do have production elsewhere. i thought the walmart news was very interesting that it's adding these jobs. if you look carefully at

walmart's announcement, incredibly important for the u.s., retraining workers, especially the pace of job creation was had. >> it's also smart business to give some credit to the incoming administration if you want to get the favor of the incoming administration. >> absolutely. if you cut corporate taxes for all of these companies maybe that pay for the investment. 44 minutes past the hour, a man accused of killing a police officer and his pregnant girlfriend. he's behind bars this morning. you're going to hear from the emotional police chief about that capture next.

suburban texas police force was killed in the line of duty. a father of four was fatally killed in a shoot-out in by a barricaded gunman. authorities tell us the suspect was found dead inside the home. it happened overnight. his identity has not been leased. the man suspected of killing a police officer and his own pregnant girlfriend is now in custody after a month on the run. police say he was wearing body armor, two handguns he tried to escape. the orlando police chief said after a struggle, they put loyd in handcuffs, handcuffs that belonged to the slain police

officer debra clayton. >> to hut her handcuffs on the bad guy that she was trying to catch when she was killed is just significant, it's meaningful to her family which i did tell seth clayton about it, it's meaningful to her p.d. family as well. >> 41-year-old faces three murder counts. three people are facing charges for helping him evade capture and more arrests expected. >> the baseball hall of fame announces the class of 2017 will be announced later today. outfielder tim raines finally, picture trevor hoffman and first baseman jeff bagwell, they're considered favorites for the induction for the hall of fame. what about the guys linked to steroids over the years, barry bonds, roger clemens, they're not likely to mike it today. however, the percentage is going up. you need 75%, agency you know to

get in. their numbers are getting better each year. and it doesn't seem impossible now. this is quite different from a year ago, it doesn't seem impossible that these guys will get in. >> their performance enhanced by time. time heals all wounds. a big day in a tiny mountain town. davos, switzerland, we're not invited, but richard quest was. we're going to talk china, trade and trump. that's what they're talking about. that's next. sometimes you just know when you hit a home run.

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♪ all right. big names talking trump and trade in davos, switzerland, vice president joe biden speaking moments ago. talking about internationalism, global efforts, working together. mentioned -- well, we'll tell you about that in a second. chinese president xi jinping talking about his speech warning of the protectionist talk coming out of the transition team.

cnn money editor richard quest joins us live from das vos this morning. such a pretty picture. >> the scenery is not bad either. >> look at richard, a dashing young man. richard, tell me about trump. trump is clearly the word on the lips of everyone at davos. he personifies a rejection of everything those globalists in those rooms, those panels, have been searching for for the past 30 years. what do they say about mr. trump? >> okay. there's two things they will tell you. they will say openly give him a chance. let's see what happens. let's understand where he's going. if he succeeds it's for everyone's benefit. and then when the microphone is switched off, when they're quietly talking in the coffee bars they'll say what on earth is going to happen? how did the american people vote in this way? i promise you this, john and christine, they will -- they're not terrified in an e e e sort

of way. they're more like the dream. the scream. you know, what's going to happen? how's it all going to funnel out. what's going to happen with all of the tweets. is this a responsible way of government? because as you rightly say, what he has put forward goes against everything that they hold dear which is detailed considered policy direction, based on evidence. and what they say is, we've no idea what happens next. >> joe biden, the vice president of the united states for another 36 hours or so speaking right now in davos. he was talking about globalism. we're looking at live pictures right there of vice president biden speaking. and he did bring up donald trump. we're told when he mentioned the name it received a smattering, let's say, of displeasure.

but when vice president biedzen is talking about globalism, why does it matter now, richard what he is saying. is this not the position of the united states anymore as of friday. >> now, let's just pause a minute. i'm going to take the other point of view here because i think to some extent we've beaten up on the trump trade policy perhaps too much. remember, what donald trump is saying is not free trade, but fair trade. and there are people here and i know a couple of members, for example the ceo of dow chemicals who is on this step with me, who basically said, listen, there's nothing wrong with fair trade. making sure it's a level playing field. and there will be people here in davos who say, look, it's great to have xi, you have xi yesterday, president xi of china, talking about free trade. well, that's great for the country that has protectionists. that has restrictions. that has a currency that's being

manipulated and is by no means an open economy. so, yes, president xi, by all means come here and talk free trades. and now perhaps start practicing it. there is that point of view, too. >> there is also this concern, this dread, among some of those folks there, some of the globalists, some of the people on wall street because they don't know if donald trump is measured in the things -- they don't think he's measured. for example, his comments about the dollar. the strong dollar policy is the cornerstone of american leadership. >> right. >> to abandon strong dollar policy is an absolute change in direction for the largest economy, democracy. his comments pulling the dollar down to the lowest in a month or so, you know, kicking down the dollar. what do you make of that? what do you make of his shift on it, or is it not a shift? is it just an off-the-cuff

remark? >> it's an off-the-cuff remark. christine, you and i have covered this for too long. we can see in our sleep, the strong dollar is in the interest of the united states. if i'm heard one treasury secretary say it once, i've heard it. i think for the president-elect to start talking about the dollar, he will find himself in very hot water quickly. agency the markets react. let me show you the concerns of people in davos. and think about where you would be on the scale of uncertainty. people are concerned about trump. brexit. trade. russia. populism. china, cyber. politics. protectionism. when you ask them where on the scale of uncertainty, this is where they all are. plus 5 in terms of uncertainty. john, where would you be on this

chart uncertainty for what's going to happen in 2017? where would you and christine want me to put you? >> uncertainty? based on where i've been in the last year, i've been off the charts. you can put me somewhere in hungary right now. >> you're off the chart. we won't bother with you. christine? >> i'm somewhere off that right shoulder in that stand of trees. i'm off the chart. look, we have been wrong. in terms of the parameters that we've been using over the past year or so, donald trump has reset those parameters, right? and i think that's what so many of the people there -- they think maybe that's going to jump. certainly, wilbur ross, somebody you and i both know, he can go in and say we'll change the relationship with u.s. and china. we can make it fair for american manufacturers and factories. there are things we can do that won't cause the big selloff you said was going to happen. just let us do our job.

i think it will be interesting to hear from wilbur ross about china and trade and nafta, richard. >> providing you're looking at things in a transactional deal-making way, that's fine. but i was at a breakfast this morning where people are talking about you can't do that always with public policy. davos feels different. there's an intensity about what will happen. an uncertainty about future direction. and they really believe the rules by which they have lived their lives here for so many years are about to change. and they, frankly, don't know what to do. >> globalization backlash embodied by donald trump by brexit by a whole bunch of things right there in front of them. >> richard quest, nice to see you. >> put the cap back on that marker. "early start" continues right now.